History of hindu mathematics

The Evolution of Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus in Ancient India

This is my second installation in the series of articles I proposed about the evolution of mathematics in Ancient India.

In the present article, I would explore the concepts of algebra, trigonometry and calculus and their culmination in ancient India. Click here to read the first in this series.

 

Algebra

Quoting H.Hankel “Indeed, if one understands by the algebra the application of arithmetical operations to complex magnitudes of all sorts, whether rational or irrational numbers or space magnitudes, then the learned Brahmins of Hindostan are the real inventors of Algebra”.

 

Though, sophisticated geometry was invented during the origin of the Vedic rituals, its axiomatisation and further advancement was reached upon by the Greeks.

The height reached by the Greeks in geometry during the period of Apolonius (260-170 BC) was unmatched by any subsequent ancient or medieval civili